Mingo, Logan school employees planning 1-day walkout; others may join

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The president of the West Virginia Education Association’s Mingo County arm said large majorities of Mingo’s public school professional and service personnel, including teachers, counselors and others, both nonunion and from his union and others, have voted for a one-day walkout.

Brandon Wolford, a Lenore K-8 special education teacher, declined Monday to reveal the date, but he said it would be soon. He said employees won’t show up to work that day, but they will instead head to the state Capitol in Charleston to protest or the Mingo County Courthouse.

Leah Clay Stone, a Logan High teacher and vice president of Logan County’s arm of the WVEA, said a large majority of professional and service employees voted by paper ballot Friday for a one-day walkout. She said central office employees, principals and vice principals weren’t asked to take part.

“The term ‘walkout’ is a misleading term, I believe,” she said. “We don’t want people to think we’re going to report to work and just get up and walk out. We’re just not going to report to work that day.”

“We’re notoriously underpaid, our benefits are just ebbing away, and we’re paying more and more for those benefits,” she said.

She noted health insurance issues affect not just school employees, but other state workers, too.

Mingo and Logan may not be the only counties participating. Wolford said Wyoming County employees have already voted to walk out, and he said at least 10 counties have votes this week.